so once again it has been a while since i have updated, so i thought it was time!
Matt finally came home on leave in october, we had such a great time. we spent several days in spokane, had a welcome home party with both our families, went to a cougar football game, seahawks game and a chiefs hockey game. It was so good to be with him everyday for 2 weeks, but it was even harder to say goodbye than last time. luckely its a much shorter time before we get to see each other again!

i have officially moved back to upstate new york! for the 3rd time i made the drive between washington and new york, this time my friend alissa made the trip with me. we made it in 49 hours, pretty impressive for 2 girls in a packed car! We had a ton of fun and it was so good to have her here to help with the house search and getting me settled in.

im loving being back but missing matt more than ever. he is supposed to be on a flight home leaving afganistan between dec 21-23, and if all goes as plans (which knowing the army it wont) he should be home December 31st! its a bummer he has to miss thanksgiving and Christmas, but we plan on celebrating on Jan 25th!

I've started my new job at Heath Photography ( http://www.heathphotography.net/ ) and am loving it. Im learning new things everyday and work with amazing people. Im so blessed to have this opportunity. I found a great place to live, its the bottom of a house in a little town called Philadelphia, (yes new york not pennsylvania!) its a bit of a fixer upper but alissa helped me paint the living room, dining room and bathroom, and remove wallpaper (water and vinegar in a spray bottle is the trick, all those years of watching hgtv has finally paid off!) next task is to refinish the hardwood floors! I have a great friend whos husband is also deployed with matt living with me until they get back. its great to have someone else going through the same thing as me! and we can count down the days together!

it has been a long while since i have updated, so i thought it was time! it has officially been 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days since matt and i have see each other. although it may sound a little depressing, it means we are getting closer to the end and him being home! His leave was supposed to hapen in august (which means he would have been home right now!) but something happened (love the army) and it was changed to october. although we were a little bummed, we looked at the bright side and thought only 2 more months! matt has been doing good, but ready to be home and move on to other things in our life. he is planning a trip for us to vanuatu (which is several islands off the coast of australia) to take when he returns. Ever since he went there in high school, he has told me he will take his wife there on their honeymoon, how lucky am i that i got to be his bride! i applied for my passport the other day in preperation! we are planning on staying at a resort for a few days then hicking and camping the rest of the trip, cant wait to see the beautiful islands in real life instead of just pictures!

Matt and I were ableto talk on the phone last week, our conversations are few and far between, but always so good! He had promotion board the first part of august (and of course did amazing) and is waiting on transcripts I mailed to see if he got promoted! Matt will for sure be home before Christmas (will be such a good holiday!) and then we are back to new york until april when he gets out of the Army! Then we have big plans of moving to georia to enjoy some sunshine and fresh peaches! we are also tenativley planning a wedding (so i can actually wear my wedding dress and invite our friends!) on September 4th, 2010. nothing of course if official yet, just thinkning! I'm so looking forward to matt being home and seeing each other every day. how nice it will be to wake up to each other every morning and eat dinner together! i will update everyone when i have more info!

It has been a busy last couple of days for me, visiting friends in Battle Ground, driving home, unpacking only to repack for a weekend in Spokane at Women of Faith with my sisters and Mom. A busy weekend, but very good with several blessings, not only hearing from amazing women at the conference but also hearing from Matt!

I always love the drive from Battle Ground to my parents house. Although it seems like a long drive by yourself, its a great time to think about life. I also love driving past Fort Lewis and Tacoma (although most people hate it because they always have serious traffic problems) it reminds me of another phase in our life together. I think its the place where we really started our lives together. I made a choice to move to where he was working and after waiting patiently ( for a long long time!) Matt finally proposed and we got married only to start an amazing adventure! Within a month we had packed our very few belongings and started our married lives living in northern New York! Now he is deployed and we may not be loving this phase quite so much, we are making the best of it and getting through it by thinking about what we will do next!

Matt is doing good, he had a few days to himself, which was well deserved, while everyone else was out on a mission. He was able to have the Internet to himself which meant lots of emails, which I always love! They had a BBQ and he "ate so much it hurt and he had to sit down", which brings back several memories of BBQ's with friends in New York. Matt has a problem with knowing when enough is enough! He enjoyed his time off and I'm sure will be back to work soon. I love each email that Matt sends, it always enlightens me and reminds me of another side of him that I love. There really is nothing like only being able to communicate to someone you love through written words. Matt always amazes me with his thoughtfulness and kindness. When you first meet Matt you probably notice other things like his sense of humor or his ability to always make a situation fun, but the more time you spend with him and get to know him, you see who he really is, which is truly amazing! One of the things that I love most about him is that he is able to look past his own needs and care for other people. When you ask him what he needs, he never has an answer (which can be a little frustrating when you are trying to get together a package to mail!) He is always so content in whatever situation he is in and makes the most of it. It amazes me how he is able to be in another country living in a tent in the dessert eating the same food each week and still be so concerned with the people he loves at home. The more I hear from him, the happier I am that I was the one who was lucky enough to get to marry him. I go to sleep each night and wake up each morning feeling blessed that I get to have him in my life, even if we are so many miles apart. Although each day is a struggle for us, we are growing closer and falling more in love with each other each day. Distance really does make the heart grow fonder and after experiencing what we have, I know you can't really understand how it feels until you have been there yourself.

To make a long story short, I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband who cares about me so much. Thinking about his love for me gets me so excited for him to finally be home again and for us to continue our lives together!